In those days, back when Yahoo was on a computer sitting on Jerry’s Yang’s desk, the way the search engines, I mean, the Internet directories, could tell what your site was about, was to read the “meta tags”, where you described what it was about.

If you were a good person, you would use accurate tags to describe your site.

Of course, I put the main rival’s name in our tags. Search for the rival, and our site came up.

HA!

They sent an angry email and we took that down.

Google came along and for the next ten years or so, decided to look at the words on your site and who links to your site to decide what your site was about.

Brilliant idea.

How can we break it?

You add the right keywords on your own site, then get people to link to your site using the right anchor text and bam!, you nailed it.

Game on!

Panda

Then a couple of years ago, Google got better and better at deciding what a site was about.

They tweaked and changed their algorithms, until one big change, code named “Panda”, put an end to pretty much all of the games.

Yes, you still need to be aware of “inbound links” and “anchor text” and “keyword density”.

But not as much.

There are no SEO tricks left.

We’ve been beaten.

On Line Advertising

When I worked for the video game company, I got to manage our online advertising budget, so I learned about how to spend money on advertising.

When I ran Survivor.com as a fan site, I cashed checks for the ads I put on my site, so I learned how to make money on advertising.

I know the effectiveness and expense of online advertising from both sides.

It used to be that you spend money on “CPM”, which is “Cost Per Thousand”, when you just paid for impressions and hoped someone clicked on your banner ads.

Now, it’s more effective to spend money on “CPC”, “Cost Per Click” or “PPC”, a friend once called it “Paper Click”, which is really “Pay Per Click”.

No clicks, no cost.

A common desire from clients I have is that we “just spend money” on the advertising.

You spend money. You make money. Bam. It’s a machine. Works every time.

(Unless it doesn’t.)

Which Works Best?

It’s easy to spend money on advertising. I know. I’ve done it.

It’s nice to believe that if you just find the magic bullet, that all of your problems will disappear.

One thing that I’ve noticed about advertising.

Once you pay for it, once that person has clicked on your ad and visited your site, that money is gone and there is no residual value.

If you make a big sale from it, great. You get to cash the check.

If they are just shopping or surfing or browsing, you got nothing. Spent money and got nothing.

If you spend the time to write a valuable content filled blog post, then that post sites there forever.

It’s possible that someone would link to that post or forward to a friend.

If you never do anything else after you write that blog post, it will still be out there, like a trap, waiting for the right person to come along and give you money because of it.

You can calculate the ROI of your advertising. It’s easy to track. How many clicks, how much money you spent, how much product did you sell, what was your profit?

If you can spend $10 to make $20, then spend as much as you can.

If you can spend an hour, writing a blog post and make $20 over the next 5 years, then write as many as you can.

My answer is that, in the short term, the ROI on advertising is better. In the longer term, anything over a month, then blogging gives you a better ROI.

I want you to watch me set this store up and try to make it work. I want you to see the trouble, the failures, and the successes.

Here’s an overview of the steps to follow to create your own online store.

1. Buy web hosting.

You’ll need your own web host that you can control. There are lots of web hosts and they are really cheap these days. I recommend PowWeb. I’ve used them for years and they’ve treated me really well. I’m very happy with them.

You probably already have PayPal, but you’ll need to upgrade it to a PayPal Payments Standard account. That lets you accept credit cards. It costs a bit for each transaction, but it’s the cheapest way to do it, unless you’re selling more than a few thousand dollars a month. I have both the business account and my personal account for buying stuff from Etsy…

The man walked up on my back porch in the dark, searching with his flashlight, when I realized that the flashlight was attached to a gun.

You want to find out what happened? Keep reading.

Oh, and always open your blog posts with a hook.

Why Should I Write?

Every time I tell you to write more posts in your blog, you ask “What am I supposed to write about?”

First, let me explain the benefits of writing blog posts.

The more content you have on your site, the better the search engines will rank you.

The more content you have on your site, the better the chances are that someone like be searching for it and find it.

The more content you have on your site, the better the chances are that someone will link to it, or share it with a friend, or come back to your site, or like you, or buy your stuff.

The idea of Search Engine Optimization is that people search for something, your site comes up in the search results for that something, and they click through to go to your site, where you sell them millions of dollars in products.

The basis of all of this is people searching and finding.

They need something to find.

Your blog posts are that something to find.

What Should I Write?

Generally, you want to write about the things that you want people to find your site for.

If your goal is to sell widgets, then you should be writing about widgets.

I personally want to go off on political rants or social rants or tell about that weird thing that happened last week.

(The helicopter with the spotlight had left when the voice on the loudspeaker told us to stay in our houses and lock our doors because they were going to release the dogs.)

Writing blog posts for SEO is not about what you had for breakfast. If you post a photo of your cat, in a non-widget related manner, you should be banished from the Internet forever.

Generally, stay on topic and think about what people would be searching for.

This is about them. It’s not about you. Get into their heads. Get out of your own head.

7 Topics You Can Write About

1. Make a list.

People love to read lists. Write things like “7 Blog Topics You Can Write About”. Always use a number. People love numbers. People don’t search for numbered lists. They search for answers, but people tend to click through on number list titles.

If you were searching for “Blog post topics”, and saw these two links in the results page, would you click through on “99 Blog Topics” or “Blog Topics You Can Use”?

2. How To

A really common thing to search for is how to do something. So tell them.

3. Reviews

People always want to know if something is good or not, and why. Which one should they buy? What should they look for? What is good about this one or that one?

4. Photos

People love to look at photos. We’re all very visual. People search for photos. People want to know what something looks like. Pinterest is built on this concept. Use it.

5. Resources

People want to know where to find information. I guess this is technically like a list, but links off to other resources can be valuable. I’d link to a page that had a list of all of the places that…whatever.

6. Events

This could be about things happening specifically for you and your company, or it could be about things happening in your industry or area of interest. It could also be relating your company/industry/area of interest with something happening in the general world.

We have Halloween coming up and we have a presidential election coming up. Debates, anyone?

Who Should I Write?

I know I’ve talked about keywords and people searching and SEO, which is all very technical, but the those things are what get people to your site, through the search engines.

Getting them to stay, or to come back, is a whole ‘nother deal.

The best way to get people to notice you, so that you are not just another pretty face, is to BE somebody.

You have to have a personality. You have to know how you are and then communicate that.

You have to write YOU.

No one else looks at the world like you do.

No one else knows what you know.

No one else can say things like you say them.

I once had some business coaching.

The most important thing that I learned from that is taped to my computer monitor.

It says “No one else can be a Conrad”.

No one else can be you.

You are your greatest asset.

How Should I write?

Here’s the best advice that I can give you:

Make someone mad.

You should be blunt. You should be honest. You should speak the truth, even if, …especially if, it’s against what is expected.

Get in touch with your inner teenage angst.

No one cares about reading what they expect or what everyone already knows. They want to find out something new, different, or exciting.

Tell a story

You should always be thinking about “the story” that your post fits into.

Your reader will have a story in their head already.

I heard once, maybe it’s not true, of some famous violin player, sitting in the NYC subway, playing for free, with a hat sitting front.

People walked on by.

Story: Some poor bum playing for tips.

That same guy plays in concert at Carnegie Hall and they charge $500 a ticket.

Story: World’s greatest violin player.

What story that you are telling?

I’m Still Stuck!

OK. If the suggestions above don’t get the juices flowing, here are some specific, concrete suggestions that might just shake things loose.

Why you’re different (and better) than your competition

A time when you got it right

How you learned to do what you do

Find a question on Yahoo Answers or OnStartups and respond on your blog

Share your company’s history or story

Issues in your space that deserve more attention

Create a poll. Blog the result.

Invite a guest blogger to post on your blog

Share your biggest screw up with a customer and how you made it right

About your Business

What’s next for your company

A video tutorial showing how to use your most popular product

Write about the achievement you’re most proud of

The answer to the most common email you get

Give 5 reasons to sign up to your email newsletter

Create a list of your favorite X

Review something

What keeps you up at night

Publish a customer testimonial

How social media increased your ROI this year

How social media did nothing but confuse you this year

What have you read lately that inspired/angered you?

Introduce your staff

Share local organizations you support and ask customers to share their favorites

We stopped, backed up, (scraped the side of my pick up truck on a road side sign that I didn’t see) and parked on the shoulder next to the tortoise.

I walked out and picked him up, just as another pick up truck came by at 80 mph. (Idiot.)

After my wife took some photos (I mean, how often do you get to see a desert tortoise?) I set him back down, pointed away from the road, pointed towards the scrub bushes and hot rocks and cactus he calls home.

He ran off, literally, into the sunset.

I’d like to believe he is now living a good life out there, because that way I have a great illustration for this post…

You need to keep putting one blog post in front of the other, and in the end, you’ll have readers and traffic and make money.

Or maybe if you’re stuck in the middle of the road, about to be crushed by giant, speeding machines, a random giant will appear to pick you up and deposit you on the other side of the road, safe and sound.

If you keep trying, then maybe something unexpected can happen.

No. That’s not it.

Or maybe you need to come out of your shell and keep moving forward, against all odds, never giving up or getting distracted.

Yeah. That’s it.

I’ll go with the slow and steady one.

That’s what you need to do.

Keep moving forward, slow and steady.

Never give up.

Because giants do exist.

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http://www.untanglingtheweb.net/2012/09/26/seo-is-dead-long-live-seo-or-how-to-fix-your-seo/#commentsWed, 26 Sep 2012 18:50:41 +0000http://www.untanglingtheweb.org/?p=5288Continue reading →]]>

Changes

There have been a lot of changes in my life in the last year and a half, but there have been even more changes in the world of SEO.

Is SEO still worth learning about?

Yes, but first, let’s talk about me…

We’ve been having work done on our cabin in Arizona by a contractor.

My hatred for contractors has not diminished.

Contractors and used car salesmen.

We did find a good contractor in the end, but it was like watching reality TV shows.

You gotta watch a lot of Honey Boo Boo before you find Deadliest Catch.

It’s taken up all of my emotional energy for the last 6 months, managing the project from another state.

No decks yet. The exterior isn’t all painted, but I can take a shower and the doors lock.

The heat works.

I must say that just sitting in the cabin, looking out at the trees, in silence, is an amazing experience.

It’s one that I’m not used to, living near Los Angeles.

We really love our cabin.

Now that I’m getting over that project, it’s time to turn back to what I love, writing this blog and teaching.

What Happened To SEO?

Over a year ago, my Survivor “fan site”, at survivor.com, just died in the search engine results.

Overnight, it went from #2 on the first page to somewhere on page 6.

Traffic plummeted.

What happened?

Well, Google implemented a couple algorithms changes, named Panda, and then Penguin.

Although Iâ€™m a firm believer that some content is better than no content, the reality is the marketing industry is full of blogs that simply are boring with few opinions, no personal voice, and often times little thought provocation.

Recently, I received an email from a well known female blogger saying that she had received death threats.

She said there was a “Mean Site 1″ that talked to a “Mean Site 2″ and both of them threatened to kill her or do her harm.

She was targeted because trolls on the Internet don’t like successful women, she said. She quoted specific excerpts from the offending site, proving that they threatened to kill her.

This was horrible! I was outraged.

Background Check

Because of my deep cynicism and morbid curiosity, I wanted to check to see what these “Mean Sites” had actually written. It’s always good to double check what anyone says on the Internet.

After a quick search, I found the obvious “Mean Site 2″. They were, in fact, mean.

I read in amazement that this “Mean Site” was not actually threatening anything close to death.

The quotes that were used by the female blogger were taken so far out of context that they were meaningless.

The female blogger had lied. Big, obvious lies.

Sex! Murder! Money!

As I read more and more into the background of what happened, who said what, and who did what, I found the story of a possible affair, a husband leaving his wife and family, an actual premeditated murder by a hired killer that someone is serving time for, tax fraud, fake death threats, and money making scams that target defenseless women through deception on the Internet.

I was more shocked at the truth than I was at the original lie.

I will give you links to all of the offending, and offensive, sites and blog posts at the end so you can go read as much about it as you want.

The Truth About Mean Site 2

Mean Site 2 was actually a site that targeted “scammers”. Their goal was to take down, expose, and humiliate, anyone who who took advantage of people for financial gain.

They are, in fact, mean about doing that. They use profanity, insults, and name calling.

The Mean Site 2 was scheduled to expose the female blogger’s scams, so she had struck first in the court of public opinion with her email.

There was no threat at all.

The most damaging excerpt that she quoted was not even about her. It was a satire, written about other people. She took other quotes so far out of context, well, you’ll just have to go read them.

They were not threatening her with death. They were saying that she’s a liar, a scammer, and takes financial advantage of vulnerable women.

The Scam

In simple terms, the general scam that everyone uses is that if you buy my product, then you will have whatever you want, but the product is worthless.

It’s the classic “snake oil” sales pitch.

A lot of people want to believe that SEO, or Internet Marketing, or blogging, can make you all the money that you want. Scammers sell books and training on how to do those things.

The victim spends money on the training/books/coaching or whatever, but is never successful.

The best way to make money on the Internet is to teach other people that the best way to make money on the Internet is teaching other people the best way to make money on the Internet.

The Secret and Oprah Winfrey

The biggest target of Mean Site 2 is James Arthur Ray. He was part of the book The Secret, which was featured on Oprah. Huge seller. This guys is famous.

The Secret is basically a bunch of cobbled together religious sounding, philosophical crap. Believe in yourself, imagine the possibilities, if you can visualize it, then it will come true, etc., etc.

(I visualized that I could fly when I was 10 and jumped off the garage roof. That didn’t end well.)

James Arthur Ray used Oprah’s support to build a following that he sold books, tapes, and personal appearances to.

Ultimately, he took $10,000 from each person who attended a week long retreat, where everyone was to be enlightened. Part of the program was a “sweat lodge” experience.

3 people ended up dead.

James Arthur Ray was convicted on three counts of negligent homicide.

I don’t think he ever visualized that.

Internet Marketing

This whole story really hit me hard (not the James Ray thing, the email death threat thing). I know, and have bought products from, some of the people involved. I’ve had email conversations with them and their friends.

I’ve also written a book that I will sell to you on Internet Marketing. I have one on SEO. Both of those books have great information in them and, I think, are worth the money.

The information that I’ve sold people is accurate and valuable, but I wondered if I crossed an ethical line too.

I know, from people’s questions and comments and emails, that most people who buy my books never get around to doing anything about them.

I get to take their money, but nothing really happens after that, for most people.

Most people are lazy, looking for easy solutions. (I know I am.)

If only we can buy the right book, or watch the right video, then we’ll be successful.

The Secret To Making Money On The Internet

There really are principles and methods that you can use to make more money on the Internet. There is a secret to being successful and making money.

It’s hard work.

Take good solid information and work hard at it, consistently, for a long time.

That’s true. I’ve done it. I know other people who have done it.

My Future, My Life

But am I taking unfair advantage of people’s hopes and dreams by selling them something they will never use?

I don’t know.

I’ve decided that I will concentrate on providing good, solid information and stay away from the unicorns and rainbows.

Your success will be based on your efforts and hard work.

I give you the map. You drive the car.

My background is in web development and marketing. I know about SEO.

I will not be building any more web sites for clients.

I will be creating a series of video based training modules.

They will cover everything you need to know to set up a WordPress web site, then use it to market products. SEO and Internet marketing will be covered.

I Need Your Help!

I’d like to know what you want to learn about. Please tell me your greatest needs. What do you have the most trouble with? What do you want to know?

I’ll create the training videos and put them up for free for everyone. After I see how people react to them, I’ll take them behind a pay wall, leaving only samples available for free.

Anyone who gives me feedback or input, or talks to me nicely, will get a discount or free access or something. Not sure how it will all work yet.

I just want to get it out there and see what happens.

Thanks for your help and support with everything.

The Links To All The Drama

OK. I know you want to go read the juicy stuff.

Warning that everything on the Salty Droid site contains profanity and offensive stuff, but not lies.